Electric apparatus for driving clocks or similar mechanism.



H. E. WARREN. C ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR DRIVING CLOCKS 0R SIMILAR MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27. 1910.

1,144,973. Patented June 29, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. E. WARREN.

ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR DRIVING CLOCKS 0R SIMILAR MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED-JULY 27. 1910.

1,144,973. Patented Jun 29, 1915. v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@iT-M .Fl-EKA- FE 5 `v sTATEs PAIENrOFFIGa WARREN, or ASHLAND, MAssACHUsE'rTsAssIGNoIt 'ro WARREN CLOCK COMPANY, or romLAND, MAINE, A- CORPORATION CFMAINE.

` EIC'1RICA1=rAItATUs FCR DRIVING CLoCKsoRs'IMILAR ivIECHANIsivI;- i

Specification of Letters latent, Patented June 29, 1915;

Application led July 27, 1910. Serial No. 574,092.

T aZZwhom it may concern? Be it known that L'HENRY E. 'WARREN, a citizen-of the United States of America, and resident of.: Ashland, 'in' the county of Mid- 'diesen` and'CommonWealth of Massachusetts,

have 44invented Improvements in Electric Apparatus' for Driving Clocks or Similar Mechanism, of Which the following .is` a specification.

This invention' relates to mechanism for propelling clocks electrically, and is'an improvement upon certain parts ofthe 'apparatu'syshovvn and described in my Patent It appertains chiey Ato theyconstruction' and arrangement of theparts byfwhlich the electric current that gives periodic' impulses to the oscillating' 'device [inthe clock, is.

opened andclosed, and itsobj'ect is to overcome the 'liability to interference with the continuously proper operation of such mecha'nismasf that heretofore employed, by reason ofthegvvear, oxidation or fouling. o f the Contacts of the make-and-break devices there Whichfmaybe fa'tube of glass or other suit able material, or.' 1 an v velongated troughlike receptacle; "within -a closed vessel having the oxygen -or air-practically exhausted from the tube or closed vess^el..'. This exhaustion is"import ant,jbecause it is found that cominertialmercury, when subjected to long continued agitation in the. presence of air,

. -which: interferes' seriously with. its mobility f and eventuallyjrendersit practically useless vvlietlier ornotgelectrical current is flowing,

' i' Within theelongated receptacle a lball or 'f glcbuleof. electric y.conducting material 1s placed, and the two l terminals bf `the electric c irfcuit lare inserted'and Sealed into. one end thereofin 'such position that when the said b'allor globule `moves tothat end of the re-V Cepta'cle-ii'ft-Will `niake'contact Wi-th both terl have. fija;

convenient and economil a `positionx which is inclined to the horizon.-

tal sufficientlyv to cause the circuit closing' globule -to-assumea position near the electrodes When the pendulum is at rest. When other oscilla-ting devices are employed, as

"for instance a Wheel or disk, the tube containing the mercury globule is secured. to the Wheel in a position such that the longitudinal axis of the tube will be slightly inclined to the horizontal, When the oscillating Wheel is 'aft `rest,in equilibrium. Also, when the change of level is as small as that produced by:theffoscillatingdevice in mechanism Aof this character, IQha-ve found' that neither' commercialnor chemically pure mercury is sufliclently moblle 1n traversing the pathway along thelower part of the interior of suchl a tube, vvhether of'glass or"steel,if the interior surface is smooth. This is on accoun t ofthe adhesion of the'mercury to such surfaces, which interferes with thesurface tension of the mercury Whenthat is used, and

prevents that freedom of movement along -the'tube which is desirable lfor s uch a circuit closer. j 1

the temporaryadhesion, or"molecular p-attraction of the mercury. to a smooth surface, andnot to the permanentadhesionof-'portions of impure mercury, touthejinner sur# face ofthe containing tube.

When using a gl'bule ofmercui'y,"there' fore, for thelcircuit closing medium',l Ijhave found that this adhesion to. the surface of .the containing tube may be counteracted and the desirable. mobility, preserved in three ways at least; first, .by roughening the in# terior surface of the tube or other'receptacle ffontainng' the mercuryssecon; by 'alloying themercurywith about two one-hun dredths (2/100) of one per `cent.`. (1%) V of lead.; Vand third, by placing-within thetube av sm-al1 quantity of inert powder such as pulverized glass or, fine emery.n 4 I prefer the'` first mentioned wayof 'imparting mobili-ty tothe mercury globule., The effect of` the roughened surface y Within ,the tube is to supportfthe mercury upon a largenumber ofsmall projectionafwhichldo notibreak i' through the Isurface of1 the globulef because- Qf 'its strong surface tension but, reduce' thesurface Contactt ,between the mercurygfand theinterior ofthe tube to 'a minimum.v In

When the ends of the glass tube are sealed y by fusing, there is a tendency for the roughness immediately about the ends to be obliterated, leaving a smooth surface to which as heretofore stated, the mercury will adhere.

To prevent this, guards or buifers are inserted at each end of the tube. These may consist of narrow strips of stout paper or a thin steel ribbon coiled 'into spirals, which when pushed into the tube are retained in place by their own resiliency, and the convolutions are suliiciently close to prevent the entrance of the mercury between them. This makeand-break device gives excellent results on short pendulums, the r'ods of which are not more than seven or eight inches long, when the tube is attached 5to the rod within an inch or two of the center of the bob. On longer pendulums, such as seconds-pendulums, a good position for the tube is near the middle of the length of the rod; exact location is not necessary, as the device will operate with eiiiciency wherever the tube is located upon the rod, it may even be placed upon an extension of the rod belo'wthe bob.

Although the globule of mercury is in many respects preferable as a circuit closer, as heretofore stated, a metal ball may be used with practical results, the ends of the electric terminals being somewhat enlarged to `insure greater surface contact.

In the drawings forming a part of this specifcation,-Figure 1 is an elevation of a pendulum with the improved make-andbreak devices attached to its rod with a diagrammatic illustration of the electrical connections, and asimple illustration of the manner in which theclock train is operated by the pendulum; Fig. 2 are diagrammatic illustrations of the variation in the amplitude of'oscillation of thependulum, the duration of the electric vimpulse upon the pen'- dulum at different stages and the place in each oscillation where the impulse is ap- I plied; Fig. 3 is a diametrical longitudinal section 'of the tube containing the globular orellipsoidal make-and-break device, here shown as a glass tube with a mercury glohule therein, and the whole incased in a protecting metal tube; Fig. 4 is an elevation of a pendulum connected with a make-andbreak tube upon an independently supported lever; Fig- 5 is 'a modification of the manner of supporting the tube upon the pendulum rod, by meansof a swinging bracket pivoted thereon and a stationary abutment against which the tube will strike at each swing of the pendulum, and thus change the angle vo1? -the tube in relation tothe pendulum rod.

Referring to the drawings, and indicating `A, which circuit through the wires W, W,

includes the terminals t, t sealed into one end of the tube T, and at which the circuit is opened and closed by the make-and-break globule G. In Fig. 1 is shown a pawl L pivoted to the pendulum rod- P near its upper end, which pawl engages the teeth of a ratchet wheel R, in gear with the train of the clock C, which is driven thereby when the pendulum is in oscillation.

In Fig. 4 the casing H with its inclosed tube T, is secured to the upper end of a lever M, which is held on an insulating support m by a pivot p. The lower' end of the lever M is connected to the pendulum rod P by a link N pivoted at each end to the respective parts; one of the electrical connections with -the electrodes t, t', within the tube T being made through the pendulum rod P and the levers N, M, and the other directly with one of the circuit wires W. In Fig. 5the casing H is secured to a swinging bracket O, pivoted to the pendulum rod P,

f and when the pendulum swings, the end of.

the casing I-I will strike an abutment Q, and thus cause the casing and its inclosed tube T to swing upon its pivot connection with the pendulum rod, thereby imparting a compound motion to the tube T. The action of this movable globule or ellipsoidal mass within a tube much longer than the diameter of the globule, as ameans for making and breaking the electric circuit which gives impulse to the oscillating device, is quite different from any means for the purpose heretofore employed, and is substantially as follows: lVhen starting the pendulum from rest and swinging it to the left as in Fig. 1, the tube T will be tilted and the globule of mercury, by itsvinertia and the force of gravity, will move relativelyl to the tube along the pathway therein to the right and. be separated from the electrodes t, t. When ,the pendulum swings back toward the right the globule will tend to move tow,ard the electrodes, but the lag in its movement will be suiiicient to prevent the globule from making contact with the elect/rodesagain until about the time whenl the pendulum f magere velectrodes and to remain in contact therewith until the pendulum is well-advanced on' its. next swing'to the left, thus keeping the circuit through the coil K closed for a considerable period and during that time attractthe magnet bob B, and give it increased swing. The above. operation is graphically illustrated at X `in Fig. 2, wherein the sine curves S represent the extent of swing of the pendulum, and the shaded spaces E between the two perpendicular lines or ordinates of each curve represent the portion of each osi cillation and the time during which electrical energy is being exerted tending to accelerate the movement of the pendulum.

As the pendulum increases in its amplitude of swing, the lag of the mecury globule will increase until a condition exists 1n which the vglobule )does not return to the electrodesiat all on the right hand 'swing of thepe'ndulum, and does not close the. circuit until the pendulum has advanced well toward the 'left hand extremity of its swing,

as is shown for instance in Fig. 1, where only a brief contact is made and there is a correspondingly brief interval during which ration of itscontac't with the electrodes becomes less owing to the increased violence with whichthe globule strikes the end of the tube ,and rebounds. This condition is illusy trated at Y, Fig". 2. Owing to this decreased intervalof time during' which the circuit remains closed, the rate at which energy is imparted to the pendulum tends. to fall oi and thus to'maintain its aniplitudeof swing substantiallyl constant., If, however, for any reason the pendulumfshould be caused to swing through a still wider are, the lag of the .globule will increase to such an extent that it will not make contact with the electrodes at all during one or even more double oscillations 1of the pendulum. This last named condition is illustrated at F in Z, Fig. 2, and while it continues no additional energy will be imparted tothe pendulum,

and it will soon Lassume its normal swing and the conditions, for instance, such as illustrated at Y. Thuswith this form of contact-mechanism the use of electric current is automatically adjusted to the requirements of thependulum. If the latter is.

` swinging through an abnormally small are the current impulses are of greater magnitude, and the .lag angle especially. effective in increasing thel swing of the pendulum.

If the amplitude of swing should become abnormally great, the current impulses decrease in duration and occur at a less effective lag angle.' Moreover, increase or' de crease in the electro-motive force of the battery supplying current produces only comthe lag of the globule beps1-@tively slight hinges in the amplitude of swing of the pendulum forthe same reasons 4as above mentioned. y'While Aitfis obvious that other conducting liquids than.

mercury may be used as thecontact-maker,

the latter or one of its alloys isto be preferred. A desirable construction is to have one electrode project into the end of the tube a little vfarther than the other,v so that when the :pendulum is at rest, the longer electrode will not penetrateithe surface of the mercury materially, and will hold it out of contact with the shorterfelectrode and the circuit will notlbe closed.

I amaware that the use\.ef mercury as means to make periodic electriccontacts in mass of mercury partially filling a closed' tube and mounted-on a pendulum-,roditselfL- 'These prior devices are i'mpracticable and uncomme'rcial forthe reasonthat'the oxygen oftheair is allowed toremain in con- .tact with the mercury, thus causing deterioration which gradually vinterferes with its mobility and ability to 4close the circuit, and

. connection with a moving pendulum is not new, and that this has been accomplished by lthe variations -in level of a considerablev also for the reason thatnone of the liquid none of them is there produced a variable phase relation between the oscillations or reciprocating movements ofthe oscillating device and the contact-maker as -is-done by my improvements, and none of the circuitbreakers heretofore proposed for driving pendulums electricallyhave been able to produce such a wideclean break and such a low resistance contact as are obtained with my improved means.

The beneficial results of my improvement cannot be obtained by the construction shown in anyl prior' P-structure. which has come to my attention. The isolated globule vof conducting `liquid upon an antiadherent surface my apparatus has .a movement produced bythe swing of the oscillating device, which is suggestive of that of the shuttle in a loom, although usually not so regular; but it has a sensitiveness and activity which cannot be produced in any of the mined normal, than whenit swings through an arc 'greater than its predetermined normal, and whenv itsy swing is greatly in excess of the normal, omits a portion of the impulses, thusincreasing the swing lwhen too small and decreasing it when too great.

. 1 An electrically impelled pendulum having an amplitude regulating circuit closer Vmounted and contained wholly thereon.

2. An electrically impelled oscillating device and a circuit closer contained wholly thereon, which imparts electricalimpulses to said device f markedly decreasing effectiveness, with ,its increase in amplitude of swing.

3. A liquid contact makerl for the circuit of an electric clock, which contact is" caused to close the circuit momentarily'at varying intervals determined by the swing of the pendulum 'thereby tending to maintain uniformity of its swing. 4. An oscillating device, electrical means.

to impart energy thereto, a contact-maker in the circuit operatedby the oscillating device and adapted to cause current impulses when said device is at diilerent positions between its limits of oscillation, which positions vary with the amplitude of the oscillae tions of the device and tend to maintain such amplitude constant.'

5. An oscillating device, electrical meansto impart energy of oscillation thereto, and a contact-maker in the circuit which gives momentary current. impulses, the recur- 'rences of, which have a'var1able difference of 'phase in relation to the oscillations of said device, dependent upon its amplitudeof swing, and thereby tends to maintain the uniform constancy of its swing.

6. The combination of an electrically im- ,I pelled oscillating device, a pathway tilted by said device, an abutment at one end of the pathway, a freely moving mass upon the pathway adapted to strike the abutment and rebound therefrom when theV pathway is tilted, and means to momentarily close- .the electric circuit when the mass strikes pulse when oscillating, an interiorly roughened sealed tube adapted to be tilted by the movement of thel oscillating device, an isolated mass of mercury free to move within the tube, which latter has a path of travel greater than that normally given to the mass by the movement of the oscillating device, and electrodes ofthe impulse giving circuit at one end of the tube.

9. The combination of an oscillating deoscillating device, a globular or ellipsoidalf electric conducting massadapted to move upon the pathway when tilted, means to reduce surface contact between said conducting mass and said. pathway, and means at the end of the-pathway to close and open an electric circuit respectively when said mass makes contact with and recedes from such means.

10. The combination of an oscilla-ting device, a pathway of rough surface adapted to be tilted by the oscillating device, an electric conducting mass non-adherent to the pathway and free to'move thereon when tilted, and means in thepath of said mass to close and open an electric circuit respectively cedes from such means.

11. IThe combination of an oscillating device, a sealed tube-adapted to be tilted by the oscillating device, a mass of mercury 'contained within thev tube, means. which minimize the surface of the mercuryl in contact with the tube, and 'means to open and close an electric circuit when the mercury moves along the tube;

,when said mass makes contact with and re- 12. The combination ofl an oscillating device, a sealed glass vessel adapted to be tilted by the oscillating device, a mass of electric conducting liquid contained within said vessel, means which minimize the surface of the liquid in contact with the vessel, and means to close and open an electric cir- -cuit when said liquid moves within said vessel. f

13. The combination of an oscillating ded vice, electrical-means to give it added impulse when oscillating, a sealed glass tube adapted to be tilted synchronously with the swing of the oscillating device, an isolated mass of mercurVT within' the tube, means to minimize the surface contact between the mercuryI and the tube, and electrodes of the limpulse-giving circuit in the path of movement of the mercury within the receptacle.

HENRY E. WARREN.

Witnesses:

CHARLES D. WooDBERRY, FLORENCE A. COLLINS.

70 vice, a pathway adapted to be tilted by the 

